10 Things Not to Share on Twitter or Facebook

Yesterday, GrowMap blogged on What NOT to Tweet on Twitter, and when I first saw the post’s title (in Ann Smarty’s ReTweet) I thought the post was going to be on something else — namely, on things not to tweet for security or reputation management reasons. While I enjoyed that GrowMap’s post regardless, it also gave me an idea for this list. So here they are (in no particular order):

10 Things Not to Share on Social Media

Birth dates (and places) for yourself, your spouse, your children

Your mother’s maiden name

Your home address (neither entire, nor any parts of it)

Detailed pictures of your home

Details (dates/time) of your vacations or trips away from home

Pictures/scans of your government issued documents

Your home or mobile phone number(s)

Any information that may be used to retrieve/guess your password(s)

Your weaknesses, fears, insecurities, or anything that may be perceived as such

Work-related complaints (if you’re working for somebody)

In a nutshell, never tweet or share anything that may be used against you or your family — to compromise your identity and/or your reputation.

Have I missed something that belongs here? If you believe so, please post it through the “Comments” area.

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3 thoughts on “10 Things Not to Share on Twitter or Facebook”

You are absolutely right, Gene. These ARE even MORE IMPORTANT things NEVER to tweet or share. People must remember that there are databases aggregating everything they share across many sites – so if they send someone a Happy Birthday message somewhere and they already have someone’s name now they can track that person and add more and more details as they are shared.

The first time I saw the names and ages of someone’s children on the free white pages site I realized how dangerous that is. Any con artist can now convince your friends, family and neighbor that they know you personally because they know your children’s names, ages, and many details about your personal life.

I have personally been the victim and know that some individuals can convince anyone to cash checks that ONLY have your name on them or accept your credit card number or tell them ANYTHING including where you are after you have managed to get away from them.

THAT is why I no longer use my real name or image online and the ‘birthdate’ I use is the date I launched GrowMap.com and a year close to but not the actual year of my birth.

I would add to your number 6 point specifically not to share social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, credit card and any kind of banking account numbers or other information.

And these tips apply to phone calls you did not initiate and filling out forms for contests or anything you supposedly just “won” online or off.

Especially work related complaints. Do you remmember the recent issue with one Google employee who have shared his personal opinion about the Google projects in Google+ to all circles instead of his personal ones? Hopefully he is not fired, but I really doubt.

Also you should not share the old pictures with some friends you may not be willing to reunite again 🙂